Simon Haines

Simon Haines is a British actor, director and writer. He portrayed Malendol in the fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Owen Michaels in Emmerdale and Rod Reed in Murder Most Puzzling.

Early life and education Simon Haines was born in Bristol and grew up in Clevedon, Somerset. He studied English at Selwyn College, Cambridge and trained as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, at the same time as Michaela Coel and Paapa Essiedu. He also trained in the Meisner technique, and with American acting and directing coach Adrienne Weiss. He received a Laurence Olivier Bursary from SOLT and he was highly commended at the Michael Bryant Awards by Sir Nicholas Hytner.

Career Whilst at Cambridge, Haines wrote and performed with the Cambridge Footlights, co-writing and performing the comedy sketch show Good Clean Men with Joey Batey, Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen (The Pin). He played Claudius in a production of Hamlet in Elsinore Castle

His first professional role after drama school was as Demetrius/Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream for London's Orange Tree Theatre. He made his West End debut as Christopher Wren in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap in 2017.

On screen, he portrayed the young Pope Boniface VIII in the Knights Templar series Knightfall, and he played pathologist Dr Benjamin Swift in ITV's true-crime drama Litvinenko, with David Tennant. His feature film debut was playing the role of police Sergeant Dan Byrne in the 2024 British crime thriller, Forgive Me Father, directed by Fredi Nwaka. He also played Paul Weyland ("the Einstein-killer from Berlin") in the Netflix feature film Einstein and the Bomb, sociologist Bezalel Sherman in BBC-PBS film Bombing Auschwitz, and the leading role of Jonas in the film Honeywell.

In 2024, he played the recurring role of elf commander Malendol in Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He was already a Tolkien fan, but in preparing to play the role, he read Unfinished Tales and The Fall of Gondolin.

In 2025, he played villain Owen Michaels in 4 episodes of Emmerdale, until the character's death. He plays regional news anchorman Rod Reed in cozy crime series Murder Most Puzzling opposite Phyllis Logan. He improvised several of his character's news reports. Wright and his co-writer Michael Bacall added some of Haines's improvisations from his audition into the final screenplay.

He stars in upcoming A24 comedy series It Gets Worse as Lucas, opposite Lena Dunham and Andrew Scott.

Filmmaking Haines's debut film as writer/director, Senior Consultant, premiered at the 2025 BAFTA-qualifying London Comedy Film Festival (LOCO).

Personal life Haines is bisexual and dyspraxic. He plays jazz piano and supports Manchester United F.C. 2026 Ponies Sgt Davis Carter 2026 It Gets Worse Lucas Stage Year Title Role Venue 2008–2011 Cambridge Footlights Writer/Performer 2010 Twelfth Night Orsino Cambridge Arts Theatre 2011 Much Ado About Nothing Leonato The Seagull Trigorin ADC Theatre, Cambridge Hamlet Claudius Elsinore Castle, Denmark Animals and Children Max Het Nationale Theater (Dutch National Theatre) 2014 Sam Wanamaker Festival Iachimo Shakespeare's Globe A Midsummer Night's Dream Demtrius/Flute Orange Tree Theatre Told Look Younger Obrad/Marco/Louise Jermyn Street Theatre 2015 The Rubenstein Kiss Matthew Rubenstein Nottingham Theatre Posh Dmitri Nottingham Playhouse / Yvonne Arnaud Theatre 2016–2017 The Mousetrap Christopher Wren West End (London) 2018 For Reasons That Remain Unclear Patrick King's Head Theatre Europe After the Rain Max Mercury Theatre 2019 Wireless Operator Alf (voice) Park Theatre / Edinburgh Festival 2020 Everything Is Absolutely Fine Anxiety Theatr Clwyd 2021 Straight White Men Drew Southwark Playhouse 2022 Distinguished Villa Alec Finborough Theatre

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2024 Age of Empires II: Battle for Greece Brasidas Voice